Nayla: Our Candy White VW Polo GT TSi

This is a discussion on Nayla: Our Candy White VW Polo GT TSi within Test-Drives & Initial Ownership Reports, part of the Team-BHP Reviews category; My Daily driver and work horse, Fiat Punto 1.4 Emotion pack was almost 6.5 years old and past few month ...

My Daily driver and work horse, Fiat Punto 1.4 Emotion pack was almost 6.5 years old and past few month had been really crazy with the repairs and some problems recurring every month or so. More than the cost involved it was the inconvenience caused that made me take up ola and ubers to work and general travelling around.

Punto ( named Trinity) had been the best mannered vehicle ever, never let us down, never left us stranded even once and always got us back home safe and happy. And thats why i had to take a conscious decision of buying a new car and most importantly, Letting Trinity go before i started getting irritated or worse, hating her( Though i don't think thats possible)

Below are the advantages and disadvantages of Trinity, which formed the basic benchmarks when it came to choosing new cars,

Advantages

1) As strong as Admantium ( not a real metal, but then who is going to argue with wolverine lol)

2) When bought ( in 2010) had the class leading set of features which match upto even the current gen of cars

3) Small size. Considering the chaos of cars in my complex as well as the current traffic scene in mumbai

4) Immaculate highway manners even at unmentionable speeds.

5) The BRAKES

6) Steering feel and feed back.

Disadvantages

1) Although the engine was as peppy as much as I would have liked, had enough grunt for small city maneuvers and over taking, Highway unmentionable speeds took a while to come, you feel the engine losing it breath.

2) Lack of an automatic gear box.

Im an European car person. With that and the above criteria’s , the only option left was the VW Polo GT TSI.

Cars test driven-

1) Maruti Baleno AT

ACT gearbox was most disappointing. The car build was flimsy. Space was good, features missing as AT is not available on top of the line model.

2) Maruti Ciaz

Same as baleno, except that AT comes with ZXI + with all the bells and whistles. Too under powered and too big for my needs.

3) Fiat Punto Abarth

This car is the devil incarnate. Wheelspins in 3rd gear. Features same like punto, and No AT. If manual car was not an issue, THIS COULD HAVE BEEN MY CAR!!!

4) Fiat Linea 125s

Amongst the most involving sedans to drive in this segment. Super specced with auto light and wipers and even cruise control. But again too big for my needs and no AT.

5) Honda city AT

Looks good, didn’t enjoy the AT gearbox and lack of features compared to others in the segment.

6) Honda Jazz AT

Somehow I didn’t enjoy this car and neither did my better half.

7) Hyundai i10 grand AT was an open and shut case like the police say, I opened the door saw inside and Shut the door. Somehow my mind has never agreed with hyundai, and lack of features which i desired and costing 8.0 Lakhs was a deal breaker

8) Hyundai i20. The AT doesn't come in top of the line variant. And the middle variant i didnt like the interiors, I was under the assumption that the rear seats are more spacious when it comes to knee room but was disappointed on that front.

Needless to mention the policy of Jayabharat Hyundai at Prabhadevi, not to allow test drives on Sundays!!! Hilarious I say!

For fun, test drove the new rapid diesel AT. Monster performance.

So it all boiled down to the Polo GT TSi. I remember test driving the polo in 2010 and coming back disappointed with the rear seat, the 3 pot engine, the spongy brakes and the dead steering. Was hesitant to pay 12+ lakhs for such a car ( company registration) Nonetheless took a TD and was blown away by the car, due to the scooped out back the rear seats seemed manageable when the front seats were adjusted for my driving ( im 5’9”) And those guys at VW have done something to the brakes + steering. The feedback was nowhere as great as a Fiat, but man, the steering was so well weighted and the feedback acceptable as well. The brakes again were long shot from a Fiat but then they were nowhere what you can call spongy the way they were on the old 3 cylinder petrols or even on the 1.6 ltr one.

Came back impressed and then over the week did 4 more test drives. The car masks speed well , is filled to brim with features, has an insane DSG . It gathers speed like nobodys business, I was shocked when I saw the speed while taking a TD on BW sea link. Took turns without slowing down much and at unmentionable speed, better half was on the rear seat , strapped in and reading a magazine while all this was happening as if we were driving at 40 kmph. No drama car.

Booked the car the next day. The delivery experience went well, haggled with the legalities of “Handling charges” + “RTO fees” but that delayed the process a bit , so paid that and got it done with. Got the delivery in 15 days( excluding certain paperwork delays from my end). White GT TSi.

No freebies from the dealer and no discount, the only rebate I got was for the insurance, the dealer had quoted 47,000/- zero dep cashless, I told him im getting the same for 26k and he matched the price without arguing.

After market accessories which I got were seat covers ( which I got installed by removing the OEM covers and not on top of them. Fit is as good as OEM, especially the seat scoop on the back side of front seats, OEM plug and play rear cam, 3M SP 70 films, front hand rest and OG 3D kagu mats. The dealer had quoted around 45,000/- for the accessories above, excluding sunfilm and 3D mats. It cost me 30,000/- including the sunfilm and kagu mats from outside.

Its been a few days since I took the delivery, and have driven around 206 kms till now, and boy with a light foot the DSG shifts at around 2000-2300 rpm in D mode, and at around 3500-4000 rpm in the same mode but with the accelerator depressed around 40%. Seems very much that the car has potential to go bat s#@t crazy when need be and drive like a gentle cruiser at the same time. One thing I observed was the engine bay is so well insulated that the engine is hardly audible outside at idling.

Total cost of the car 12.08 lakhs + 30 k for accessories=12.38 Lakhs. This is the April 2017 model.

Will be doing some small trips this month, Alibag, Nashik and Pune and fingers crossed for a goa trip in august haha.

Out of names for this baby girl. Any tips or recommendations?

Got a FE of 5.3 KMPL over the past 75kms At 206 kms the FE has gone up to 8.1 kmpl, Seems like it will improve quite well.

What i like about the car,

Exteriors

1) Looks are subjective, and coming from a punto, whose design stood out in the best possible way when I got it 6.5 years back, Polo was ummm a very common face, you will actually have to forgive me for not realising the difference between the multiple versions of polo till date. Having said that, I like the way it looks. Theres such simplicity in its design , which is not the easiest to achieve. I like the subtle detailing. The lines are clean and precise !!!

2) Not a stickler for badges actually, so the GT/ GT TSi badges don't matter much, Do they look good?? Well i don't think they make the car look bad.

3) All the cars in this segment which I have noticed have the 2 ugly black rubber beading strips in either sides of the roof, Volkswagen does away with those ugly strips with its innovative welding process or something. The car looks CLEAN.

4) The view from ORVM's is barely adequate. maybe im being too modest when i say barely. The mirrors on the Punto had a good view and you could see all the lanes on city roads as well on highways. This point is going to be my major grouse against the Polo. The mirrors are sleek as you can get ( no camaro mind you ) but they won't just cut it for me, ORVM upgrade any one?? Jokes apart i somehow get a feeling that at any point, on highways, there will be a lane that won't be visible in the mirrors if you consider the first 50 feet behind the car.

5) The blackened head lamps, the 16 inch alloys ( finally glad VW moved up from the 185's) with 195/55 tyres, got good year assurance tyres. Having used good year NCT 5's on Punto , i was impressed with the grip on those tyres in wet and dry conditions. The compromise was insane tyre noise. Things don't seem to have changed much with the assurance. But will stick to them for the basic functionality for a year atleast. The rear spoiler looks good, its branded VW, adds to the racers boy feel. Somehow after punto, Im liking the car antenna, its small and its at the rear.

6) The quintessential door THUNK is there, yes, but not as pronounced and solid as Punto's, my better half pointed this out.

7) I love the front grill and i love the chrome work done on it.

8) Shut lines are precise. Now i get that german sense of getting things done.Attachment 1653346

Interiors

1) The view from the car is great, I could never see the bonnet of the car when i was inside Punto, With this car, front seat on the highest setting, I get to see almost the whole bonnet. Satisfying, takes me back to my Maruti zen days!!

2) The dash is clean, uncluttered, Clean sharp lines, feels way more premium than the other cars, much more premium.

3) Because of the scooped out rear seats and bit bit of lesser thigh support as compared to punto, it frees up more space at the rear. With the front seat pulled behind to adjust to my driving position, when i went to sit behind, my knees would probe into the front seat till my knees felt the seat frame. In polo with the same adjustment i have around an inch of space between my knees and the front seat. This is possible not only due to the scooped back side of the front seats, but also due to the fact that there is no storage in the seat covers. The rear seat space is much lesser than compared to competition, Jazz, Baleno et al.

I realised this and made sure the seat covers which i have installed are not on top of the OEM ones. I got the OEM ones removed and these covers installed directly on the seats + made sure no storage in the seat covers(pics of legroom behind + scooped seats pics attached below). There's almost 50-55 kms free space.This is the same difference you might feel wearing one sock on top of another. To be fair, I never sit in the rear seats of any of my cars. I love driving and the only place i sit is the drivers seat. So all these things were secondary to me but then mom and dad might sit behind once in a while. In all honesty, after 6.5 years my puntos rear seats still had the new seats smell to them haha.

4) There is a good level of height adjustment in the front seat, and the built quality of the height adjuster knob, feels far more superior the one in Punto.

5) The steering is really really good to hold , the flat bottom looks good and serves it real purpose too in the car. The feel of the steering i ll come to later in the post.

6) The steering mounted controls and the OEM HU is quite good to use. Hasslefree no nonsense, do your job, smile a bit if necessary kind of attitude. Functionality at its best.The steering also has controls for the MID and function well. The piano finish surrounding the HU is a major dust and fingerprint magnet.
7) The information given by the MID is limited and not as elaborate as the one which punto dished out, Also the info given out by Punto had a certain order or pattern to it ( Trip A- distance, avg speed, avg FE, time duration, then Trip B with the same info then total time , DTE etc etc) The one in Polo kind of seems a bit disorganised to me , somehow. Maybe its just initial reaction, only time will tell.

8) Lit footwell is an amazing and classy feature which was missing in the punto. Lights up the driver and front passenger footwell really well.

9)Much more convinient storage in the car than Punto. There are 2 cubby holes, a place to put in your cell phone and other nitty gritties, both the front seats gets a bottle holder which can hold a 1 litre bottle.

10) All the basics from punto covered and then some. ACC, BT, BT streaming, Touch screen interface, the super sexy DSG unit. Its been such short time but already got used to the auto IRVM. Seamlessly shifts from day to night mirror. I mean now i don't even think about shifting to night mirror, It just happens. Also the mirror is pretty sleek, almost futuristic, and it did remind me of Camaro ORVM's LOL.

11) Im not much of an after market fan when it comes to electric/electronic or technical things hence we always buy the top of the line models so that only seat covers and a rear cam, sun films and katy mats are the standard fitments we get done. Coming from this background, the HU and speakers of Punto and our Lines too were a big big disappointment. No matter what setting, the sound always seemed flat. Now don't get me wrong, im not an audiophile with EDM pumping out of the speakers all the time. There are times when i just listen to the engine too. But when i do listen, i need that clarity and the bass where needed. Punto was like a 3/10 in this aspect. But the OEM HU and speakers in Polo do a pretty good job in this department. The sound clarity is good, the bass mid and treble settings are good, I never listen to loud music, so the volume rarely ventures towards 50% and even when it does, the sound is not getting distorted in anyway.

12) Cooled glove compartment, Will help in keeping the chocolates and the drinks cool. This is going to help on those weekend trips where its easier to find a petrol pump but not a refrigerator :

13) Theres no split folding rear bench. Now i never used this (60:40) much but when i had to, it helped a lot. Based on the need i could accommodate the cargo + one or 2 people in the rear. This will be missed. Also somehow the seat folding mechanism of the punto felt sturdier than polos.

16) Punto had a small space in the boot where the safety kit, Hazard triangle etc could be velcroed up at the sides, I found these lying loose in the boot with no provision to affix them to the sides. Money saved is money earned eh Volkswagen.

Suspension, Chassis and handling

1) I do not understand suspension enough to comment technically, but the car feels just so tight, so freaking tight that it's fun to throw it around. Handles well enough for me, there's a slight bit of body roll but nothing enough to make you queasy, but definitely adds to the fun.The ride quality is an it on the stiffer side as compared to the punto. Small bumps and undulations can be felt at lesser speeds, maybe the tyre pressure set by the showroom is too high. Will have to get that checked.

Under the hood + in action on road

1) VW is lying !!! This is not a 1.2 litre engine. DO NOT BELIEVE them. The engine has grunt, the engine has power, the engine has drivability, it does not sound or feel strained at any point. I have bordered speeds that we don't talk about, on this car, and No don't take me wrong, it was not a conscious decision. I was driving in my similar driving manner, the way i always drive the punto and the speed never exceeds 100 kmph on the sea link. I just underestimated the potential of this tiny monster. I mean I do not drive in the city looking at the speedo as 1) theres not enough space and open roads in the day time and 2) with Punto my benchmark speed on clean clear roads was never more than 80 kmph in the city. I was expecting the engine note to get coarse, the power delivery to fade and for the engine to feel strained to understand that okay we just might be doing a bit more speed than needed.

Frankly i was expecting this to start once the engine reached 100 kmph on the sea link. I mean cmon, its a 1.2 litre engine, there are going to be trade offs right... WRONG !!! The engine is a maniac and the car masks speeds well. Will suggest to keep the speed limit warning on for this car. The speed pick up is a gradual consistent curve, barely any drop in torque when the gears shift. It picks up speeds consistently .And in addition to this the chassis and the body was handling so well that nowhere did that thought come in my mind that im doing something that i shouldn't. No vibrations in the steering, not much of the engine noise ( Thanks to the sound damping done on the bonnet) When i saw the speedo, the first thing i did was look in the IRVm and ORVm's and push the brakes on to slow down and to get the car to permissible speed limits, and boy does the car brake fuss free. The bite is not as strong as my Punto but its way improved from the older 1.6 litre car. Gets the job done.

I was expecting having rear drums might dampen the GT experience but for most part, they didnt. The steering is in no league of my Punto, but then again, vast improvement over the 2010 set of polos. I mean those steerings were neither well weighted, nor had any feed back and were way too light for my liking. This steering almost feels like an electromechanical unit. Someone please throw light on this.

Having said that, giving rear discs would have been confidence inspiring for the customers and been a major peace of mind factor , irrespective of the fact that we might not push our GT's to test. VW anyways charges 12.2 Lakhs, 30 k more might not be a deal breaker for those who are buying one.

The gear box, theres enough spoken about the gear box but i ll still reiterate. All of my future automatic cars will be with a DSG preferably not the DQ200 but a DSG nonetheless. The gear shifts are lightning quick, more importantly the amount of accelerator depressed , the intensity with which it is depressed turns the D mode into an almost S mode. Its that good. S mode is nirvana, but use it right and D mode will serve most of your needs well. What the engine lacks in power ( compared to abarth) it makes up for in its drivability coupled with DSG. Period!!

2) Like I said before, the car is a joy to drive around, extremely chuckable, and loves to be thrown around curves and a bit of corners too. You ll find yourselves using brakes lesser on curves and bends. Having said that, it's not a go cart, but that won't stop you or the car from having fun. Need a go kart go for GTI or CooperS ( major major future dreams).

All in all I would rate this car an 8/10. Its the perfect balance between a city car, a speed devil and a highway cruiser. Looking back, Had i bought the Abarth, i would have been happy, yes, but the lack of AT would have got the best of me (not in a good way) after a while. GT TSi has the perfect balance between power and convenience. It has about 80-85 percent of that sturdy fiat feeling, which for me makes sense, I trade of the 15% fiat feel for the convenience of AT, additional features and much more premium feel. Volkswagen should stop skimping out on really basic features.

Is it a right time to buy the GT TSi now, that the new polo has been launched?

Yes it does, The new polo for india is still an year away. In the mean while VW will release may be 2 more versions of the GT, with added navigation, auto headlamps, rear cam. The current set up of GT already has everything else, auto wipers, cruise control, hill hold, ESP, better bigger tires. Navigation we mostly do on our phones. So thats a complete no brainer for me.Smaller but significant things

1) BT streaming from phone is awesome, I always use apple music and i felt a little or no loss of sound clarity to my untrained ears,

2) You can charge your cell phone by plugging it in the USB drive too but the rate of charging is really slow ( i use an iPhone 7 plus)

3) The rear parking sensors work like a charm and when the beeping becomes a single note , it means you still have around a feet of distance behind you.

4)The power window have a 2 stage button, one click up or down moves the window partly, if you pull or push the button upto 2 clicks then its complete auto up or down,

5) There is an unique way of shutting down the ACC. I actually couldn't figure it out and neither were the sales guys able to help me on this. I have attached the video. basically you turn down the blower speed to zero, once that is done , wait a second, turn the blower knob one notch to the right and then immediately turn it one notch to the left.

6) That this car has a certain amount of performance is something that very one is aware of. As per me what needs a mention is that it is extremely easy to extract performance out of the car. It does not make you work hard to get the performance out like some cars and it's quite forgiving too just in case things might head south.

Going flat out Abarth would beat GT TSI any day on an open road, but I drive in the city just a wee bit more than I spend time on the highway.

800kms update

So as told above, we decided to go to Nashik for the weekend, total Kms covered= 595 over 2 days. Here's the basic likes and dislikes

Dislikes

1) Although the brakes are more than adequate to control the car from high speeds( gradual braking, not slamming them on) Would have loved for more bite in them.

2) The ride quality is on a much stiffer side compared to my Punto. The endless sharp pot holes on the Nashik mumbai highway jarred the car. No matter how many i dodged, a few i couldn't because of the traffic behind. Sharp thunks filter in the cabin. Thankfully no sidewall tears and punctures. Will check for any bulges on side wall now. Also need to definitely check that tyre pressure now

3) Even smaller expansion joint shudders are felt inside a bit more harsher than punto.

4) Just as I had imagined, The orvms can have serious blind spots. Especially in the immediate 50 feet behind the car on a 3 or 4 lane road. Can be really dangerous. This will take a bit of time getting used to.

Likes

1)The gem of an engine + gear box combination, Always drove in D mode , but even that was perfect for those unplanned overtakings at the last moment. The only thing is, if you suddenly depress the accelerator when the car is under 1500 rpm, it will take like a second to gather its wits and sprint, but sprint it does. and all this happens under 3.5-4 k rpm too, thats the best part. Still around 40% of revs left to redline.

2) On way to Nashik, the car didnt seem too eager to go beyond 100 kmph. The td car was like an eager beauty wanting to show off. I guess it must be the 6k kms on the odo of the td car already. on way back when the car had crossed 700 kms, i could sense the car free revving till beyond 100 kmph without a fuss. I guess I need to put a few thousand kms on the car before it shows its true self.

3) Although the braking could have been better, i can blame the brakes completely, they did their job in the most fuss free manner without the ABS kicking in.

4) The car is clearly suited and tuned, even chassis and suspension wise for the track. It will smother flat roads like no body business. The cars so tight that taking turns at speeds of between 80-100 seemed like just another ho hum yawn moment. The steering feel is g

5) Got a FE of 16.2kmpl on the return journey, not bad for a 800 kms run car I feel. The rpm lazily hovers at around 2,000 RPM at 100 kmph.

1) VW is lying !!! This is not a 1.2 litre engine. DO NOT BELIEVE them. The engine has grunt, the engine has power, the engine has drivability, it does not sound or feel strained at any point. I have bordered speeds that we don't talk about, on this car, and No don't take me wrong, it was not a conscious decision. I was driving in my similar driving manner, the way i always drive the punto and the speed never exceeds 100 kmph on the sea link.

Just a little anecdote regarding this. I had to do a Blr-Hyderabad (~600km each way) day trip once in the Polo as my V40 was in the garage getting serviced. This was right after the days of demonetization and toll booths were all shut. This highway has a speed limit of 100-120 on most of the road and is fabulous. I started off from Hyderabad at 5pm or so and was home at 10:30pm!! 5hrs 30mins for 600km! I had no idea how good this engine was on the highway until that drive. Gave quite a few fortuner and endy owners a serious bout of inferiority complex on the way .

Just a little anecdote regarding this. I had to do a Blr-Hyderabad (~600km each way) day trip once in the Polo as my V40 was in the garage getting serviced. This was right after the days of demonetization and toll booths were all shut. This highway has a speed limit of 100-120 on most of the road and is fabulous. I started off from Hyderabad at 5pm or so and was home at 10:30pm!! 5hrs 30mins for 600km! I had no idea how good this engine was on the highway until that drive. Gave quite a few fortuner and endy owners a serious bout of inferiority complex on the way .

+1 to that. Good roads have what it takes to get the best out of this engine. One thing I can say for sure is that the car is a mile muncher !! Day 1 of my trip I covered around 300 kms. And I realised that when I checked the trip meter at night. Usually such mileage I clock only on one way trips to Goa, and that is followed by a certain level of exhaustion towards the end of the distance. With GT though, I never felt the distance.

Congratulations!! Wish you many more happy and trouble free miles in future. I believe you bought the 2017 model. 16" alloy is one hell of addition to GT. Can you give some indication of pricing and any discounts offered?

Great car and great write-up. Enjoy! I have the bigger brother with the bigger engine but the point-and-shoot quality of the Polo is amazing.

Suggest you get rid of the GT TSI side sticker. I believe it's relatively easy to use a hair dryer, peel it off carefully and do a mini detailing to remove any residue.

Thank you, the need to write a lengthy initial ownership review stemmed from the fact that most of the basic info on the car was in the main GT TSI thread and I had to shuffle between multiple threads and the common GT TSI thread.

I get petrified of removing stickers, always feel that the clear coat might get affected or damaged in some way. It's not bothering me too much though. LOL.

Last edited by MihirC : 11th July 2017 at 13:36.
Reason: Removing smileys.

Congratulations!! Wish you many more happy and trouble free miles in future. I believe you bought the 2017 model. 16" alloy is one hell of addition to GT. Can you give some indication of pricing and any discounts offered?

Thanks mate, Yes, its an April 2017 model. Yes, 16 inchers have been one of the better additions on the GT. I think it technically completes and complements the car in the best way possible, The only thing that could complete the car would be rear discs.

I paid 12.08 lakhs on road for the car ( with company registration) and 30 K for accesories. No discounts offered on the GT by the dealer. The only place where i could pull the cost down was for the zero dep insurance where the dealer had quoted 47k and I got it down to 26k to match with outside agencies.

Just a little anecdote regarding this. I had to do a Blr-Hyderabad (~600km each way) day trip once in the Polo as my V40 was in the garage getting serviced. This was right after the days of demonetization and toll booths were all shut. This highway has a speed limit of 100-120 on most of the road and is fabulous. I started off from Hyderabad at 5pm or so and was home at 10:30pm!! 5hrs 30mins for 600km! I had no idea how good this engine was on the highway until that drive. Gave quite a few fortuner and endy owners a serious bout of inferiority complex on the way .

Yes the engine pulls. I have done multiple solo trips to Coimbatore in the GT TSI and at times have done the entire trip in S mode! I like to fill up Speed 97 about a week before the trip and the engine literally sings on the highway.

Engine response and composure at high speeds is great, but the biggest problem is brakes. Stopping power is very poor from high speeds, more so if you are carrying some passengers with you. There is too much brake fade and the brakes almost give up! If you are used to driving the V40, then I suggest you be careful with the GT TSI. You feel you are in control until a need to shed speed quickly comes along.

Agree, I had a lovely Flash Red Polo TDI with the 185 profile tyres. It used to regularly lull me into false security with its relatively superb chassis and European feel. BUT, if you need to brake hard then God help you. The brakes and my 185s were wholly inadequate for even the TDI. I can imagine the TSI even with the fatter tyres.

In fact I suspect the Polo is involved in a higher than normal ratio of highway accidents (than other hatches) only because of this false sense of security.

Yes the engine pulls. I have done multiple solo trips to Coimbatore in the GT TSI and at times have done the entire trip in S mode! I like to fill up Speed 97 about a week before the trip and the engine literally sings on the highway.

Engine response and composure at high speeds is great, but the biggest problem is brakes. Stopping power is very poor from high speeds, more so if you are carrying some passengers with you. There is too much brake fade and the brakes almost give up! If you are used to driving the V40, then I suggest you be careful with the GT TSI. You feel you are in control until a need to shed speed quickly comes along.

Quote:

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

^^ Yep completely agree. Brakes are bad at high speed and one has to be very careful to brake early.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gkrishk

+1 to that: Brakes are bad at high speed. Nearly rammed into a lorry that changed lanes without warning on NH 7 between Tirunelveli and Madurai, usually a road with sparse traffic.

The brakes lack a certain definite bite , I miss the sharp brake bite from my Punto. Had I not been paranoid about losing the warranty by upgrading the rear to discs, I would have done so by now. Somehow I feel that in some skewed way, VW will connect the brakes to chassis and chassis to DSG and then say warranty on DSG void!!

Having said that for moderate speeds till 100-110 kmph I feel the braking is just about adequate. For emergency braking I believe the situation determines a lot of things not just the brakes, but yes better brakes will help decide the outcome better.

Agree, I had a lovely Flash Red Polo TDI with the 185 profile tyres. It used to regularly lull me into false security with its relatively superb chassis and European feel. BUT, if you need to brake hard then God help you. The brakes and my 185s were wholly inadequate for even the TDI. I can imagine the TSI even with the fatter tyres.

In fact I suspect the Polo is involved in a higher than normal ratio of highway accidents (than other hatches) only because of this false sense of security.

Which year model was this, having driven the older polos i can vouch that the braking and the steering has improved in leaps and bounds over the polos from 2010.

In fact to mention an experience com my recent trip to Nashik, I was travelling at a speed of not more than 120kmph, and an 18 wheeler which had stopped at a junction suddenly decided to move forward forcing me to brake. I didn't slam on the brakes, but gradually depressed the pedal, and the car stopped a feet away from the 18wheeler. Due to the gradual braking the ABS didn't kick in either and the car stopped fuss free.